It must be election year: Winston is scaring his constituents again

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has warned Grey Power members that NZ Super is under threat – and dismissed Act Party leader David Seymour as Epsom’s “ventriloquist dummy”.

Peters rounded on Seymour as well as National and Labour in a speech to more than 100 Grey Power North Shore members today.

Covering familiar topics such as the bias of media, immigration levels – “a fatal pathway to disaster” – and law and order, Peters’ central message was that NZ Super was under threat.

Yup. ?Winston’s back fanning the flames of fear among the infirm and befuddled.?

“It has been attacked countless times in the past. If anyone thinks it is going to be safe after this election, then they had better think again.

“Don’t come to me if [National] win, and they go back on their word.” …

John Key had said he would quit as prime minister before raising the retirement age of 65. In December, new Prime Minister Bill English said he would not renew that pledge.

Thereby giving Winston a perfect platform.

Act Party leader Seymour – who said in a Herald interview this week that Peters was a “charismatic crook” – has called for the age to be raised to 67, matching other countries including Australia.

Today, Peters hit back, to laughter from the audience.

“If you have observed – the number of people saying we can’t afford Super, all sorts of economists, all sorts of political parties. Why, there’s a ventriloquist dummy in Epsom who says that we can’t afford you.

“This is a guy, who alongside [United Future leader] Peter Dunne, their two parties couldn’t even get 1 per cent at the last election.”

Peters said it was wrong to label NZ Super unaffordable, given immigrants could access the scheme after 10 years.

And ACT have said they will be in government to force National to do the things it doesn’t have a backbone to do. ? Like lifting the age to 67.

Peters is laughing all the way to the polling booth enveloped in?the smell of his voters’ soiled undies.

As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.

They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.